night without an audience,
secretly--however righteously--shocked the people of Askatoon.

Had they seen the thing done, there would have been sensation, but
no mystery; but night, secrecy, distance, mystery, all begot, not a
reaction in Mazarine's favour, but a protest against the thing being
done under cover, as it were, unhelped by popular observation. Also, to
the Askatoon mind, that one man should kill another in open quarrel was
courageous, or might be courageous,--but for one man to kill another,
whoever that other was, in a hidden way, was a barbarian business.

It seemed impossible to have any doubt as to who killed the man, though
Orlando had not waited a moment after the body had been brought to
Tralee, but had gone straight to the police, and told what had happened,
so far as he knew it. He stated the exact facts.

The insurance man, Scarsdale, would not open his mouth until the
inquest, which took place on the afternoon after the crime had been
committed. It was held at Tralee. Great crowds surrounded the house, but
only a few found entrance to the inquest room.

Immediately on opening the inquest, Orlando was called to tell his
story. Every eye was fixed upon him intently; every ear was strained as
he described his coming upon the isolated wagon and the dead man with
the reins in his hands. It is hard to say if all believed his story, but
the Coroner did, and Burlingame, his lawyer, also did.

Burlingame was present, not to defend Orlando, because it was not
a trial, but to watch his interests in the face of staggering
circumstantial evidence. To Burlingame's mind Orlando was not the man to
kill another by strangling him to death. It was not in keeping with his
character. It was too aboriginal.

The Coroner believed the story solely because Orlando's frankness and
straightforwardness filled him with confidence. Also men of rude sense,
like Jonas Billings, were willing to take bets, five to one, that
Orlando was innocent.

The Young Doctor had not an instant's doubt, but he could not at first
fix his suspicions in a likely quarter. He had examined the body, and
there were no marks save bruises at the throat. In his evidence he said
that enormous strength of hands had been necessary to kill so quickly,
for it was clear the attack was so overpowering that there was little
struggle.

The Coroner here interposed a question as to whether it would have
been possible for anyone but a man to commit the cr